Ukrainians welcome in Israel if they have friends and relatives there

More than 1.7 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia attacked, the UN says

Protesters outside the Russian embassy in Tel Aviv. AFP

Israel is prepared to admit Ukrainians who have personal connections there, Kyiv’s ambassador to Israel said on Monday.

By allowing Ukrainians who are fleeing the Russian attack to stay with friends and family in Israel, the government is broadening its policy of welcoming Jewish Ukrainians.

“People who have friends that can assure that they will stay with them, [then] after the warfare finishes they could go back,” Yevgen Korniychuk, Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, said.

“I think we have reached some important agreements. I want to thank the Ministry of Interior for that. It was not easy,” he said.

The Ukrainian arrivals were not expected to be given refugee status, which is granted in rare circumstances by Israel.

Following the outbreak of war last month, Israeli authorities announced they would not be deporting Ukrainians.

The vast majority of arrivals from Ukraine in recent days have been Jewish, as they have the permanent right to emigrate to Israel.

About 1,500 Ukrainian citizens have reached Israel so far, the Israeli government said on Sunday.

More than 1.7 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24, UN figures said.

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  Ihtisham Ullah, a student from Pakistan, who was forced to abandon his studies in Ukraine after the war broke out. All photos: Daniel Bardsley / The National

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  Refugees being given food near the asylum processing centre.

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  Alexander Hoffman, a German Army officer who is volunteering to match newly arrived refugees with people offering rooms in their homes.

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  Refugees waiting to register at the asylum processing centre in Reinickendorf.

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  The queue is growing longer by the day.

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  The former hospital in Reinickendorf near where the asylum processing centre has been set up.

Israel has sent humanitarian aid for Ukrainians, although it has so far refused Kyiv’s request for military support.

In Tel Aviv, Mr Korniychuk put on a helmet and asked why Israel was not willing to send non-lethal aid.

“Please tell me, how can you kill with this thing?” he said.

“This is simply not possible. So I don’t know what these people are afraid of, to provide the personal security for Ukrainians.”

Israel has chosen not to follow the EU and US in sending military aid to Ukraine, or to impose financial measures on Russia.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has positioned himself as a possible mediator in the conflict as his country has close ties to Kyiv and Moscow.

He visited Moscow on Saturday, when he met President Vladimir Putin, before travelling to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Mr Korniychuk thanked Mr Bennett, although he was unsure whether the Moscow talks had been successful.

“Hopefully it will bring us to the end of the bloodshed and the beginning of the peace process finally,” he said.

He said was “deeply impressed” by the donations from Israelis, who he said had given tonnes of supplies.

“Please stop bringing us this aid, because we are simply [having] a shortage of space. Give us a few days,” he said, above a room where donations were being boxed up.

The ambassador urged financial donations to Ukraine.